CALABASAS, Calif., Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America has realized significant gains modifying mortgages through the government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). At the reporting deadline for the Department of Treasury's monthly servicer progress report expected to be issued this week, Bank of America had quadrupled the number of completed modifications for its customers since the previous month's report.

More than 12,700 Bank of America customers now have a permanent Home Affordable modification, up from nearly 3,200 a month earlier. Another 13,700 permanent modifications are pending, meaning final modified loan terms have been approved and documents have been sent for the customers' signatures, which will be their final step to a completed modification.

"In the past month, our concerted customer outreach initiative has driven a substantial increase in the rate of conversions from trial to permanent modifications, as we anticipated in our recent reports of HAMP progress," said Jack Schakett, credit loss mitigation strategies executive for Bank of America Home Loans. "These results are attributable to the resources -- including expansion of our default management staffing to more than 15,000 -- and focus we have placed in support of this and other homeownership retention programs."

Bank of America is the industry leader in placing homeowners into HAMP trial modifications and expects to become the leader in completed modifications under the program. Since January 2008, Bank of America has helped 700,000 customers with a loan modification through our own programs and with trial and completed modifications through the Administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

The bank is continuing to take extraordinary measures to reach customers who face deadlines for providing necessary documentation for consideration of a permanent modification. This initiative entails mail, telephone and door-to-door outreach -- averaging more than a dozen contacts per customer -- aimed at encouraging and helping eligible homeowners meet their documentation requirements and avoid falling out of the program.

"Bank of America is a strong proponent of the home retention goals of the Making Home Affordable program, and we have placed HAMP at the center of our broad-based mortgage modification efforts," said Schakett. "Recently, we became the first servicer to formally agree to participate in the HAMP second-lien modification program, further demonstrating our commitment to putting as many financially struggling homeowners as possible into a more affordable and sustainable situation."

Bank of America is also a leading lender-participant in the Home Affordable Refinance Program. Nearly 152,000 Bank of America customers have benefitted through the enhanced loan-to-value and streamlined provisions of that prong of the Making Home Affordable initiative. In total, Bank of America helped more than 1.1 million customers refinance their home in 2009.

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 59 million consumer and small business relationships with 6,000 retail banking offices, more than 18,000 ATMs and award-winning online banking with nearly 30 million active users. Bank of America is among the world's leading wealth management companies and is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to more than 4 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients in more than 150 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.